Russia has taken control of several Ukrainian mineral deposits valued at $12.4 trillion, the Washington Post (WP) reported, citing an analysis commissioned by Canadian analytics firm SecDev.

According to experts, Ukraine lost 63% of coal deposits, 11% of oil deposits, 20% of natural gas deposits, 42% of metal deposits and 33% of deposits of rare earth minerals, including lithium. At the same time, some of these natural resources were seized by Moscow after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.

During the war in Ukraine, Russia took over 41 coal deposits, 27 natural gas deposits, 14 propane deposits, 9 oil deposits, 6 iron ore deposits, 2 titanium ore deposits, 2 zirconium ore deposits , as well as a strontium, lithium, uranium, gold and a large limestone quarry formerly used for steel production in Ukraine.

rich natural resources

Ukraine has some of the world’s largest reserves of titanium and iron ore, untapped lithium deposits and massive coal deposits, all worth tens of trillions of dollars, WP notes. Most coal deposits are concentrated in eastern Ukraine, where the area of ​​the occupied territories is especially large.

According to the WP’s conclusion, if the Kremlin manages to annex the Ukrainian territory it has conquered, Kyiv will forever lose access to nearly two-thirds of its deposits. Ukraine will also be deprived of other natural resources, including natural gas, oil and rare earth minerals needed for some high-tech components, which in turn could make it difficult for Western Europe to find alternatives to imports from Russia and China. .